We have an article up today on Nerve.com about the Obamas' vs. the Clintons' marriages. Here's an excerpt:The Clintons have an absolutely typical Boomer union, a rickety first-generation prototype of the modern marriage. They were early adopters of this "equal partnership" thing, so while they deserve all credit for having pioneered, their marriage is the romantic equivalent of the Apple IIe. The Boomer marriage has a lot of things that got phased out in later development: male entitlement, female determination, resentment on both sides. They're trying hard to be good at mutual respect and encouragement, but there's only so far you can upgrade an old machine.
So the Clintons proclaim and demonstrate their love, convincingly: "No one understands me better and no one can make me laugh the way Bill does," she wrote in her 2003 memoir. "He's so romantic!" she coos to Essence. He kisses her on the forehead. They hug. I totally buy it. And then, like clockwork, he screws her over. Most recently, he says the thing about Jesse Jackson that turns off who knows how many supporters. She seethes, re-asserts her independence. They make up. Rinse and repeat.
[...] Contrast that with the Obamas . . .Yes, Michelle recently accused the Clinton campaign of using "win at all costs" tactics, but that's pretty much objectively true. The little "Meet Michelle" video on barackobama.com is heartbreakingly sweet. It's about how much they love their kids and how they want all kids to get a fair shake, and about how much she believes in her husband. You get the sense that she and Barack deeply love each other, and that unlike Bill and Hillary, that love hasn't been overshadowed by years of dashed hopes and game-playing. Introducing her husband to a crowd in Iowa this summer, she said, and seemed to mean, in her heart: "There is something special about this man."
I find all four of them attractive, interesting and smart, but I would not like to be in a marriage like the Clintons' if it remotely resembles its outward appearance. The Obamas' marriage, on the other hand, looks progressive, fair, fun. That's not to say they don't probably fight plenty, but there's something remarkably bitterness-free about them. They seem to genuinely enjoy each other and they seem like a team. The Clintons seem like two strong oxen yoked together and not always wanting to go in the same direction. And judging by how young men and women relate to each other these days, the Obamas' notion of partnership looks more like the future.
You can read the whole piece here. What do you think? Do you agree that their relationships are typical of their different generations?
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. BY reading this blog today I can see your leanings toward the Obama family.
That's OK,it's just obvious.
I never really felt the Clintons were about love and friendship. Theirs is a relationship built for political power. Why else would a good republican girl from chicago 'hook' up with a good ole demacrat from Arkansas? Love may have blossomed from their pairing, but it certainly was not the cause of it.
mac at 2:49PM on Feb 4th 2008
2. I do believe that with the Obamas marriage we see the best of the future and the best of the past. Where the Clintons are that old bitter couple that was thrown together by overbearing parents in our western perception of an arrainged marriage. The Obamas are a good example of unforced partnership through LOVE. The Clintons may RESPECT each other, but, the Obamas obviously LOVE each other.
jenaye at 5:35PM on Feb 4th 2008
3. What actually is a "boomer" marriage? I think you are making this up as you go along. The Clintons actually have a "Kennedy marriage". That is a marriage where the ends justify the means. I don't believe the Obamas are any different, it just comes as a shock that they actually are married(I think)
IRONBLUEEYES at 5:52PM on Feb 4th 2008
4. THE OBAMAS HAVE A BETTER MARRIAGE!!! THERE IS A HIDDEN BITTERNESS AND MISTRUST WITHIN THE CLINTON COUPLE.
thedanielaguilar at 8:51PM on Feb 4th 2008
5. Who cares who has a better marriage, the obama's only came into the spotlight in the last couple of years, so no one really knows anything about them except what they tell you.
sam at 7:03AM on Feb 5th 2008
6. Can't tell... both Hillary and Obama publicly attack and destroy marriage by the policies they support to rape the minds of children through their depraved sex education programs in order the perpetuate the vicious circle of disfunction and abuse unto next generation (who is now ever more uneducated, damaged, and dependent on the very liberal & barbaric government that socially-engineered their economic plantation for a harvest of future votes.)
What the socialist Progressives do is actually a typical method that dictators use to ween a society away from democracy. They economic and social policies are designed to FAIL in the long term even though on the outside they are all disguised to give the people what they want (yet without responsibility). One tactic is to strip children away from parental guidance and wisdom by using a combination of secular humanistic indoctrination into the schools combined with creating the songs or anthems of the generation. A soviet Communist Party official once said, "If we can kill the national pride and patriotism of just one generation, we have won that country. By making readily available drugs of various kinds, by giving a teenager alcohol, by praising his wildness, by strangling him with sex literature, and by advertising to his and her (Psycho-Political Preparation,) we can create the necessary attitude of Chaos, Idleness, and worthlessness.” Sound at all familiar? Maybe MTV, or VH1, how about our culture in general? This is the doctrine that the advertisers and large networks and corporations have accepted, while they refuse to admit that it is true.
Eventually they not care about their family condition and lose the desire to care about what is true or false because the secular humanistic social engineers have used that nations self-centered attitude to enslave them into a state of apathy. Influencing peer pressure from the media is all that is necessary.
Wake UP AMERICA!!!
http://evolutionfacts.townhall.com
http://evolutionfacts.blogspot.com
HORACIO MATTESA at 8:19AM on Feb 5th 2008
7. Are you stupid, lady? Maybe you should ask who let the pedophiles into government? Seems to me that would be a more pertinent question. I am sick of media whores.
Jeanne at 8:31AM on Feb 5th 2008
8. I am sick of all the pot shots taken at Hillary. Who knows what takes place behind closed doors, do you Ms. Calhoun? Just another reason to attack Hillary Clinton. Give it a break.
bonnie at 5:27AM on Feb 6th 2008
9. I'm not sure the Clintons actually have a marriage.
Dave at 5:22PM on Feb 6th 2008